When Billie Eilish called on billionaires to “give away[their]money,” Mark Zuckerberg reacted awkwardly.
The Facebook co-founder disparaged the singer for not joining in the applause during his acceptance speech at the WSJ. Sources spoke to People magazine Thursday about the Magazine Innovator Awards.
“We’re in a really, really bad, really dark time in the world right now, especially in our country, where people need empathy and help now more than ever,” Eilish said when accepting the show’s Music Innovator Award.
“I think if you have money, use it for good and give it to people who need it,” she added.
The 23-year-old Birds of a Feather hitmaker then called out several wealthy and powerful people in the audience, including Zuckerberg, 41, and his wife Priscilla Chan, as well as billionaires Hailey Bieber, George Lucas, Tory Burch and supermodel Karlie Kloss.
“I love you all, but there are some people here who have way more money than I do. If you’re a billionaire, why are you a billionaire? No hate, but yeah, donate money, you shorty,” she said, drawing laughter and applause in the Zuckerberg-less room.
Representatives for Mr. Zuckerberg did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.
According to Forbes, Mehta’s CEO is the third richest person in the world, with a net worth of approximately $257 billion.
Zuckerberg’s wife, Chan, 40, received the outlet’s 2025 Science Philanthropy Innovator Award at the event for her work through the couple’s Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, which focuses on developing new tools to detect and treat disease.
It’s worth noting that Chan and Zuckerberg reportedly pledged before their deaths to donate 99% of Meta’s stock to their cause, according to the trained pediatrician’s WSJ Innovators profile.
Eilish proved she’s not all talk before she takes the stage, as Stephen Colbert announced that the pop star has donated a large sum of money to advocacy groups focused on social initiatives such as climate change and food justice.
“We have the honor of sharing some news tonight. Thank you, Billy, for allowing us to do this. It’s truly wonderful,” said the talk show host who introduced the singer.
“Billie Eilish will donate proceeds from her ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft’ tour to support organizations, projects and voices dedicated to food equity, climate justice, reducing carbon pollution and combating the climate crisis,” Colbert, 61, added.
“Folks, that donation will be $11.5 million. That’s amazing. Billy, on behalf of humanity around the world, thank you.”
